Quercus stellata
species of plant
Quercus stellata, the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges, and also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to rot, fire, and drought. Interbreeding occurs among white oaks, thus many hybrid species combinations occur. It is identifiable by the rounded cross-like shape formed by the leaf lobes and hairy underside of the leaves.
Taxonomy
The specific epithet stellata is Latin for "star"; it is named this because the trichome hairs on the bottom of the leaves are stellate or star-shaped. Several variants of Q. stellata were named by American botanist Charles Sprague Sargent. The variety most recognised by the United States Forest Service is Q. stellata var. paludosa Sarg (delta post oak).
Hybrids
Description
Post oak is a relatively small tree, typically 10–15 metres (33–49 feet) tall and trunk 30–60 centimetres (12–24 inches) in diameter, though occasional specimens reach 30 m (98 ft) tall and 140 cm (55 in) in diameter. The leaves have a very distinctive shape, with three perpendicular terminal lobes, shaped much like a Maltese cross.
“Quercus stellata” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Quercus, stellata and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2600501. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Quercus stellata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.